Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'll make a couple of observations. I understand this is a little off brand for me in recent months, but I do genuinely want to acknowledge Minister Stephen Jones for the constructive approach that he has taken to discussions and negotiations with the Australian Greens and genuinely thank him and his staff for their engagement on this issue and ultimately for their agreement to these amendments. It is genuinely appreciated.

I also want to respond to a couple of matters that have arisen through Senator Smith's contributions. Firstly, when this question is put shortly, we will find out whether the Liberal and National parties in this place are going to go in to bat for the big consultants regulating themselves and the big corporations in the tax advisory sector actually regulating themselves, so the fox running amok in the henhouse. That's what we are about to find out. When Senator Smith says that the normal practice of the opposition is to form a position after inquiries at the committee stages, that is most emphatically not the case. In the overwhelming majority of situations, Senator Smith well knows that the opposition have formed a view well before they get into the committee stages of any particular piece of legislation. This will be the test, and it is coming up, I believe, in the next few minutes.

We know that the Australian Greens and the government are actually going to take the first legislative step in response to what has been a disgraceful scandal regarding the behaviour of one individual, but behaviour that is symptomatic of an entire sector, the big four consultants. This behaviour was exposed by this Senate. The business model of these consulting firms is based on things like conflicts of interest and effectively insider trading. We are about to find out whether the opposition is going to back in business as usual, which has appalled and shocked millions of Australians, as the revelations have rolled out through the inquiries of this Senate and through some very good public interest journalism in this regard. We're about to find out whether the opposition is going to back in good governance and significant steps towards abolishing not just perceived conflicts of interest but actual conflicts of interest. The test is coming up now, and this will be the key for the opposition. We're about to find out whose side they're on. Are they on the side of the Australian people and good governance or are they in the pockets of the big corporations?